The making of Drogba: 'I knew I'd arrived when John Terry and Frank Lampard said they believed in me'

By JAMIE REDKNAPP

Last updated at 13:22 18 May 2007

Have you ever seen a striker defend his goal with as much relish and force as Didier Drogba?

"Yeah, me and John Terry both go hunting for the ball. We compete to be the first to get there.

"Sometimes, I want to win the ball so much, I forget about the man who I was meant to be marking. That has cost us goals this season."

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He smiles as he tells the story. In fact, he smiles a lot during the four hours he is with us for a photoshoot and interview.

No sign of the ferocious monster of a centre forward who has battered opponents in the Premiership and the Champions League this season — in defence, as well as attack.

Alan Shearer was pretty good — the best I played with — at defending the near post and dominating that space, but Drogba puts as much into defending the box as he does attacking the glory at the other end.

He has a sense of duty, when most of us were just making up the numbers, happy to leave the defending to the guys with the cuts and scars.

It will be the same story in the FA Cup Final tomorrow. He is very proud to be walking out at Wembley.

"When I was a young boy in Africa, I used to love to watch the FA Cup Final. Africa stops for this match. It is an important game. It is the only domestic trophy this group working under Jose Mourinho have not won."

These are the words of a striker on top of his game and on top of

the world. Is there a better centre forward in the game right now? "I am very proud when I hear people say things like this about me," he says softly.

"This year, I have felt like I did in Marseille, with all my confidence restored. When I am like this, I know that I can make the difference on the pitch. I can see that my team-mates trust me; they believe I can score at any moment, even in the last minute.

"When you have this feeling, you come out on to the pitch relaxed because you’re on top of the world. But, you know, being the best striker in the world means nothing because it is just one season.

"I need to see what happens next year and the one after that. The potential is there, but you have to be aware that everything can change through bad luck or injuries.

"Just look at Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto’o, who have been very unlucky this season. To be the best, really the best, you have to be good again and again and again."

There is a calm and a charm about Drogba. He enjoys the attention of the camera so much, there is no time to move his car. Instead, I am dispatched to find an alternative parking space.

Our meeting takes place shortly after Chelsea have been knocked out of the Champions League by Liverpool. What sort of mood will Drogba be in?

"Am I sad to have lost out on the two biggest trophies of the season? Of course I am, but the day after the defeat at Anfield, I woke up to the news that four Chelsea fans had been killed in a helicopter crash on their way back from the game.

"I remember thinking to myself, 'Didier, you went to Liverpool and lost a match; others went there and lost their lives'."

His answer says much about him. This is a deep-thinking, intelligent man, a fascinating interview subject. And, as we know, one hell of a centre forward.

Only last week Sir Alex Ferguson admitted he once considered signing the Ivory Coast international and believed this season, as Drogba scored and scored again, that the only way to stop Chelsea would be to shoot their No 11.

How Manchester United stop Drogba tomorrow could determine the outcome of the FA Cup Final.

Just like Cristiano Ronaldo, Drogba has re-invented himself.

We thought he was overpriced last season, that he spent more time collapsing to the floor than leading the line. He was branded a cheat and a diver and his popularity was low.

Now he has hit 32 goals in all, he is the top scorer in the Premiership and he plays as if it would take a tank to put him on the deck.

"I got stronger and learned to stay on my feet," he admits. "No, no one at the club talked about it, though sometimes my friends would tease me and say, 'Oh look, Didier is on the floor again'. But I never felt it was that big a deal.

"You know, the cultures are

different in France and England, so for me to adapt to your football required many adjustments.

"In France, I never had to use my arms to protect myself because as soon as a forward is touched, the referee blows his whistle. Here, I realised you had to look after yourself on the pitch.

"First of all, I didn’t want to leave Marseille. I was sold against my will, so it is no surprise I was a bit unhappy to start with.

"It’s not that I didn’t want to come to Chelsea; it’s just that I was settled in

Marseille. If I am being honest, for the first season I was in Chelsea but my heart was still in Marseille.

"And the pace of the game over here is unbelievable. It took me a long time to get to grips with it. I still managed to score important goals in my first two seasons but not as many as I have this season.

"The moment I really realised I had established myself in England was when two particular players told me they believed in me.

"When those compliments come from John Terry and Frank Lampard, the two main men for Chelsea and England, it makes you feel very good. Right now, I’m a very happy man."

He cares about his image, too, and would sit for hours studying videos of every game; watching his own performances, but also learning to understand the runs and movements of his team-mates, especially a player such as Joe Cole.

He realised, as he watched those videos, that he had to change his playing style. Since then, there have been times this season when he has seemed unstoppable.

My personal highlights include

the goal against Liverpool when he controlled the ball, turned and smashed a shot past Pepe Reina.

There was also the winner at

Everton, to keep Chelsea in

competition with Manchester United for the Premiership title.

It was a contest they eventually lost, but Drogba almost led the

crusade alone. When Chelsea walked around Stamford Bridge on their lap of thanks last Sunday, along with Lampard and Mourinho, Drogba was still saluted like a champion.

It has been an astounding rise for the striker, aged 29. His game now is about raw power, strength,

running into the channels, holding up the ball, bringing his team-mates into play. His confidence is high, but it has taken time.

"I came to France from the Ivory Coast when I was just five," recalls the African Footballer of the Year. "I lived with my uncle [a professional footballer called Michel Goba] in northern France and played football here and there, but because we moved around a lot I was never

able to make a name for myself

anywhere.

"Then, when my parents decided to move to France with my other siblings, all nine of us lived in a tiny, one-bedroom flat in the suburbs of Paris. It was tough, but it made me want to get out and play as much as possible.

"Even when people started

noticing me, I still wasn’t being signed up. I had to wait until I was 20 to join a club and even then they were a second division team called Le Mans."

It took four years for him to get a big break, moving to newly

promoted first division side Guingamp in 2002. He has since become a £24million striker.

"Everything has gone very fast from there. I spent one season there and then got a move to the biggest club in France — Marseille. Just one season later, I was joining the

richest club in the world — Chelsea. It’s been a mad few years."

Playing for Mourinho clearly agrees with him. He speaks

passionately about his manager. "This man gave me everything," he says.

"Do you realise that when he arrived at Chelsea [in 2004] he could have bought any striker in the world, but he chose me. No one had heard of me, but he was sure I was the man to lead the line. That sort of confidence makes you feel very special.

"I know he says some crazy things sometimes, but this guy has something special. He can really fill his players with confidence.

"When you walk into the changing rooms the day before a big game and he tells you that you are one of his 'untouchables', it makes you feel incredible.

"That’s why if Mourinho does go, it will be very difficult for me. I’m a professional, so I will honour my contract and maintain the same level of performance, but it would hurt me a lot."

It has not always been that way with his manager. He describes their tensions last season as "my little war with Jose" and continues: "Before the end of last season, I sat down with Mourinho and told him I didn’t enjoy the way we played the game.

"I told him that I had given my all for the good of the team playing alone up front in our old 4-3-3 system, but that it was probably time for me to move on.

"I felt a bit unappreciated. This is not me being arrogant, but I felt the Chelsea fans did not show me enough respect last season.

"Maybe I didn’t do what they expected of me, but I was working really hard and their criticism hurt me. But then I went off to the World Cup and did a lot of soul-searching.

"In the end, I just really wanted to stay at Chelsea. I realised that some of the criticism was perhaps

justified and I needed to work harder and improve. I wanted to come back and show everyone how good I really was." He has done that.

"I could not leave these shores until I had made it in English football. I’m too proud. That’s not to say that I’m now ready to go, because I want to stay at Chelsea and win many more trophies in the future.

"But at least I can relax because I now know I’m good enough to impose myself in the Premier League. When AC Milan came in for me last summer it was very tempting but I was determined not to give

up that easily.

"I was too proud to walk away from Chelsea and wanted to show everyone I could be No 1 over here. My work at Chelsea is not